Mogs
by GIRL IN STORY
Summary: Bucky and Peggy friendship. One shot, in three parts.


"Hey, Mogs."

"Don't call me that," said Peggy.

"Don't mind him," said Steve. "He likes to make a bad first impression so that later on you like him out of sheer relief."

Bucky flashed a cocky grin and held out his hand. She didn't shake it. Hydra had taken his charm.

Steve seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he said, "We should get you to medical, buddy."

Then Peggy was under Bucky's right arm. He hadn't realized Steve had taken the left one until then.

"There's enough of me to go around," Bucky slurred. He had insisted on marching into camp with Steve instead of riding in one of the Hydra tanks, for several reasons, but apparently that had depleted the last of his reserves.

"He's injured?" Peggy asked Steve.

"He wouldn't let me check him, and he won't tell me what they did to him."

"M'right here, guys," said Bucky.

"It was bad. They had him strapped to a table. I think they were experimenting on him."

Then Peggy was taking Bucky's pulse. He waved her off. She was only fussing because he was Steve's friend. She was a good girl. She would be good for Steve. Bucky would have to make an extra effort to annoy her, so she didn't fall in love with him instead. He'd learned his lesson with Meredith Springer.

"He'll be alright." Peggy touched Steve's hand. "You saved him."

"M'still right here, guys." Maybe he wouldn't have try so hard after all.

Steve's girl was tough to predict. That reminded him of something Howard Stark had said in an interview about the Expo. Bucky had stolen the newspaper from work so Steve could use it to fill his shoes, but he'd read the article first. He couldn't remember the exact words. His memory had been a little screwy since the camp.

"I'll help you get him to medical."

"M'fine, Mogs."

"Don't call me that," Peggy said again. "My brother called me that."

"Didn't mean to step on any toes," Bucky apologized, but to make up for it, he added, "That's Steve's job."

"Nonsense," said Peggy. "I simply mean that if you must give me an awful nickname, you should make a full go of it like Michael did and call me Moggy Woggy."

He got it.

The moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked.

He gave her a sloppy salute. "Roger, Moggy Woggy."

"Come on," said Steve. "Let's get you to medical."

"Roger, Rogers."

* * *

"Bucky?"

He didn't know how to answer that. "Who the hell is Bucky?" still seemed like the best response, but you weren't supposed to swear in front of old ladies. He remembered that much.

"Bloody fucking hell," said Peggy. "Bucky Barnes?"

He shook his head.

She held out her hand. There wasn't a weapon in it, so Bucky wasn't sure what to do with it.

Peggy seemed to realize that. She took his hand in hers, and used it to pull him into a hug. He nearly killed her on instinct.

That wouldn't have gone over well with Steve. For some reason, that was important now. Steve was important. He wasn't sure, but he was starting to think this woman was important too.

He put his arm around her. Then he thought better of it and switched to his real arm. Being social was hard work. Bucky couldn't remember how many times he'd thought about going back to Hydra just so he wouldn't have to ask someone to help him find the plums in the supermarket, and not just because his memory wasn't what it used to be.

"Does Steve know?"

Bucky nodded against Peggy's shoulder. She stroked his hair one last time before pulling back. He hadn't even realized she was doing that.

Peggy smiled at him. Being social was hard work, but maybe it was worth it.

"You haven't aged a day. Just like Steve. Was it Hydra's experiments?"

He nodded again.

"Oh, Bucky. Is that where you've been all these years?"

Nod.

Peggy bit her lip. They weren't red. He was pretty sure they used to be red.

"Do you remember the day you marched back into camp? You called me by my brother's nickname for me. It was almost as if you were trying to annoy me. What was it exactly? You and Michael both came up with so many variations over the years. Mogs, Peggy Leggy, Poggy Wog...Oh, I don't know. My memory's not what it used to be."

Bucky could empathize with that.

"You know you're rather bad at first impressions," she said. "Give Steve time. Whoever you are now, he'll come around. You're his friend. You're my friend too."

He got it.

"Moggy Woggy."

* * *

Bucky placed a gloved hand on the casket. He thought about switching to his real hand, but it didn't matter. That wasn't really Peggy either.

"Bye, Moggy Woggy."

* * *

A/N

You can't convince me that Bucky didn't say, "Roger, Rogers," every chance he got.

Very loosely inspired by the much better A Rare Camaraderie by Mellia Bee, who came up with the amazing headcanon that Bucky calls Peggy "Mogs."

If you like this story, please check out the Kickstarter for my book. The link is on my profile page, because this site won't allow external links.


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